The Whole Truth Project Looks At The Anthony Porter Case - Part X - The Grand Jury Testimony Of Shawn Armbrust
In our continuing review of the Anthony Porter case - we now look at the grand jury testimony of Northwestern Medill Journalism student Shawn Armbrust, who testified before the grand jury on February 22, 1999. Here are some key points:
* she took David Protess' class "Media and Capital Punishment" and was assigned to the Anthony Porter case.
* She received an "A" in the class
* As to the class, she said "essentially we are supposed to advance the truth in the case whether or not it means the person is innocent or guilty"
[KEEP THIS MISSION IN MIND AS YOU READ THE REST OF THIS POST AND OUR OTHER POSTS ABOUT THIS CASE AND ASK YOURSELF IF PROTESS AND THE NORTHWESTERN STUDENTS WERE REALLY TRYING TO ADVANCE THE "TRUTH" WHETHER OR NOT IT SHOWED PORTER TO BE GUILTY?]
* she never reviewed the testimony of any of Porter's alleged alibi witnesses
* she went to reenact the crime at Washington Park with fellow students Tom McCann, Cara Rubinsky, Lori D'Angelo and a camera crew from CBS Network
[WHY WAS THE MEDIA INVOLVED IN THIS? DID PROFESSOR PROTESS SET THIS UP?]
* on December 9, she interviewed Alstory Simon at his house in Milwaukee with fellow student Cara Rubinsky while Professor Protess waited in the car
* Simon told her that the night of the murders he had gone out walking with Jerry and Marilyn and they wanted to go into the park and he told them not to because it was dangerous.
* He also said the murders were very painful because he was good friends with Jerry and Marilyn and they all had been planning their weddings together
* Simon said he had left Chicago one year after the murders for job reasons
* She was familiar with William Taylor's affidavit and knew that his affidavit did not mention the fact that he had seen Porter in pool area of Washington Park on the night of the murders
* She and others interviewed Anthony Porter in Cook County Jail on December 16th. She just asked him some basic questions like how his headaches were
* Porter told her that Simon was the guy they had to talk to because he had done the crime. He did not tell them how he knew that.
[IF PORTER REALLY THOUGHT SIMON WAS THE KILLER, WHY WASN'T SIMON'S NAME MENTIONED ONCE DURING PORTER'S CRIMINAL TRIAL??]
* Porter told them he was not in the park that night
[BUT THAT DIDN'T JIVE WITH WHAT EDWARDS, BECKWITH, SENIOR AND WOODFORK TOLD THE POLICE. WHY DIDN'T PROTESS AND THE STUDENTS TALK TO THESE MEN?]
* she never investigated Porter's alibi
* she never read the transcript of the testimony of Porter's alleged alibi witnesses from his criminal trial
* she was part of a group that interviewed Inez Jackson
* Inez Jackson was very sick and in poor health - she was suffering from HIV
* she was not familiar with the name "Edwards"
[THIS WAS IN RESPONSE TO A QUESTION FROM A GRAND JUROR. EDWARDS WAS THE PERSON WHO TOLD POLICE THAT HE SAW PORTER PULL THE TRIGGER. HOW COULD ARMBRUST NOT HAVE BEEN FAMILIAR WITH THAT NAME?]
* they bought Inez Jackson some groceries and a gave her a space heater after she signed an affidavit saying Simon was the shooter
* here are some specific questions and answers:
JUROR: At what point did you feel that Anthony Porter was innocent and Alstory Simon was guilty, you or the professor?
A: We were convinced that there was no case against him on December 11th when William Taylor recanted his testimony, but we weren't convinced that he was innocent. I guess when we met him we were convinced that he was innocent.
ASA GAINER: What was it about that meeting that convinced you that he was innocent?
A: Well, the reason we were going to meet with him was to ask him if he had committed the crime, but the first thing he said was that he was innocent, and I've heard people say that before, but he was more convincing.
. . . . . .
JUROR: It surprises me that you and your girlfriend Cara would be up there talking to Simon, and the professor, as smart as he is, is in the car. Why didn't he have some protection for you going up to see Simon if he had any thought that he might be the killer?
A: First of all, it was our interview. Second of all, we are - we weren't confronting him that he committed the crime. We were just interviewing him and -
JUROR: Two young white girls?
A: Quite frankly, he would be pretty stupid to do anything to us. He knew our professor was in the car. He knew what we were there about. He - he would be pretty stupid to have done anything to us.
JUROR: You're naive to do something like that. If you were my daughter, I'd . . .
. . . . . . .
Q: And you were aware that there were 4 other witnesses who the police interviewed, men by the name of Eugene Beckwith, Mark Senior, Kenneth Edwards and Michael Woodfork?
A: Yes.
Q: Right?
A: Right.
Q: Did you take - did you interview any of those people?
A: No, we didn't because they said - they all said it was too dark to see anything anyway. I think. That's what I thought they said.
[NO, THAT'S NOT WHAT THEY SAID. WHAT THEY SAID WAS THAT THEY SAW PORTER IN THE BLEACHERS AT THE TIME OF THE SHOOTING AND EDWARDS SAID HE SAW PORTER PULL THE TRIGGER]
Q: Did you take any steps to interview those people?
A: No.
Q: Well, you had the police reports, right?
A: Yes.
Q: You were aware that Eugene Beckwith identified Anthony - I am sorry - Kenneth Edwards identified Anthony Porter as the shooter that night, weren't you?
A: No, I guess I didn't see that part of the police report.
[REALLY, HOW COULD SHE NOT HAVE NOTICED SUCH AN IMPORTANT ISSUE? COULD IT BE, PERHAPS, THAT SHE AND HER FELLOW STUDENTS WERE NOT INTERESTED IN BAD FACTS?]
. . . . .
Q; What steps did you take to locate those 4 individuals [Edwards, Beckwith, Senior and Woodfork]
A: We did not take any steps.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
STAY TUNED. MORE TO FOLLOW.
